Pakistan’s LNG supply deal with Qatar unaffected by rift

Pakistan does not expect the geopolitical isolation of Qatar led by Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries to impact its LNG supply deal.

With growing demand and stagnating domestic production, Pakistan relies on imports of natural gas to cover 50 percent of its power production.

Speaking at a media briefing, Pakistan’s minister for petroleum and natural resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the 15-year LNG supply deal with Qatar would only come under threat if force majeure is declared on Qatar’s exports, Platts reports.

However, Qatar Petroleum, the parent company of RasGas and Qatargas, assured that the business will continue as usual.

In a response to the latest geopolitical situation, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar Petroleum’s president and CEO, said the company will continue uninterrupted supplies.

In addition, LNG carriers dispatched from Qatar to the European markets have continued flowing through the Suez Canal and into Egypt.

Pakistan has also voiced its continued commitment to building the natural gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan, despite the possibility of international sanctions on Iran.

A clause within the UN agreement would allow the sanctions to resume automatically in case Iran violates the deal, which has seen investors unwilling to commit to the project.

Pakistan is currently importing chilled gas through Excelerate Energy’s 150,900-cbm FSRU Exquisite, chartered by Engro Elengy, located at the Port Qasim in Karachi.

The country is set to increase its LNG import capacity as Singapore-based BW has signed a 15-year agreement with Pakistan GasPort Limited (PGPL) to provide a newbuild FSRU, that has recently been named FSRU BW Integrity at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard.

Also, Pakistan’s Global Energy Infrastructure Limited signed a 20-year FSRU contract with Höegh LNG for its import project in Port Qasim near Karachi.

The project, being developed by GEIL has recently received support from a consortium of industry majors comprising Höegh LNG, Qatar Petroleum, Total, Mitsubishi and ExxonMobil.

LNG World News Staff